Thu, Jan 24, 2013 | 09:14 GMT
Sony to dispute ICO data breach fine, statement issued
SCEE has challenged this morning’s £250,000 fine issued by the UK Information Commissioners Office, stating that there is no proof that sensitive data was indeed breached. The company has replied to the fine by way of a statement.
The statement was passed to MCV this morning and reads, “Sony Computer Entertainment Europe strongly disagrees with the ICO’s ruling and is planning an appeal.
“SCEE notes, however, that the ICO recognises Sony was the victim of “a focused and determined criminal attack,” that “there is no evidence that encrypted payment card details were accessed,” and that “personal data is unlikely to have been used for fraudulent purposes” following the attack on the PlayStation Network.
“Criminal attacks on electronic networks are a real and growing aspect of 21st century life and Sony continually works to strengthen our systems, building in multiple layers of defence and working to make our networks safe, secure and resilient.
“The reliability of our network services and the security of our consumers’ information are of the utmost importance to us, and we are appreciative that our network services are used by even more people around the world today than at the time of the criminal attack.”
What’s your take on the matter? Is Sony right to appeal? Let us know below.
11 
Posted in: PS3, Sony
Tags: scee, UK Information Commissioners Office
11 comments
#1
Dragon246
24/01/13, 9:31 am
Completely expected.
#2
Deacon
24/01/13, 10:22 am
I think any company would appeal this. Rightly so. It may not be a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but it’s hardly pocket change.
Without that £250k they won’t be able to afford to develop a new controller for PS4!! Or they’ll be stuck with 512k RAM!!
#3
stevenhiggster
24/01/13, 10:34 am
@2, or they won’t be able to afford any Vita adverts!
What? They don’t advertise the Vita? Oh well, just pay the fine then.
In all seriousness though, I think they are justified in appealing it, its a pointless fine that solves nothing.
#4
Mike W
24/01/13, 10:49 am
@2
Well there goes our chance to ever get our hands on a PS4
#5
Samoan Spider
24/01/13, 10:58 am
For a cash strapped company this could be troublesome. I think its a massive over-reach on the ICO’s part. I would dearly love to know how they pinned the blame on Sony. Data Protection covers the use of data and security of it, I get that but I can’t see how Sony could have foreseen the scale of this issue. And what will happen to the hundreds of others targeted by Lulzsec that lost millions of records from all areas of commerce?
#6
Mike W
24/01/13, 11:01 am
Well Dave I think Sony has lawyers in place for situations like this. If ICO can somehow prove that 77 million people’s credit card information was stolen, along with other personal information, then they have a case. If not, this will probably get thrown out.
Besides why the fuck would they wait this long?
#7
Mike W
24/01/13, 11:04 am
‘Cash Strapped’ company? Are you talking about ICO?
#8
Samoan Spider
24/01/13, 11:10 am
The ICO is cashstrapped yes, but only because of budgetary cuts. No, that was aimed at Sony sadly. They’ve suffered some serious shrinkage. There aren’t any datasheets for the 2012/2013 fy yet but here’s the sheet on 2008-2012 if you’re interested. Its in Yen but here ya go -> http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/sne/financials/cash-flow
The trend is clear to see right at the bottom there and here’s hoping their recent shuffling has helped them sort this situation. But this kind of thing happening wont help them.
#9
Mike W
24/01/13, 11:27 am
@8
I agree with you 100% that Sony has downsized immensely since their golden days, but do you really think 300k is going to make a multi-billion dollar company go, let’s say, bankrupt?
You can’t be serious?
#10
Samoan Spider
24/01/13, 11:33 am
No, I’m not suggesting for a minute that this will force them off a cliff. But I am saying that a share price is a fickle thing and look at Apple lately. Dropped over $40 per share in after hours trading yesterday because their profit stayed stagnant for 12 months. If Sony lose this on appeal it could seriously dent the value of the company if the wheels aren’t in motion already. But please note I said at the start it could be troublesome, but I didn’t suggest a death knell.
#11
Mike W
24/01/13, 12:39 pm
@10
I agree, personally I don’t see this going anywhere